Friday, November 28, 2014

Michael, thanks for doing this interview.
First question: Your new book, Paladin Pawn has a lot of chess references,
which I love. Were you a good chess player in middle school or did you get
crushed most of the time?

Haha, I was all right. Not
exactly grand-master material, but I did play often with my brothers and
friends. I often won or at least got my opponent to a stalemate. We even had
this intense version called “Nightmare Chess” where you each had a hand of
cards that gave your pieces special powers.

What gave you the idea for Paladin's Pawn? How long has this
book been playing out on the board in your mind?

Some of the ideas from the
book have been playing around in my head since about Junior High, but I didn’t
actually try to put any of them down until I was in college. It’s a good thing
too, because I’m a much better writer now than I was then. It comes from
growing up loving stories about knights and acting them out with my siblings.

How much does the main character in Paladin's Pawn resemble
yourself? What is the most similar thing to you in the character, and what is
the least similar thing?

Paladin's Pawn Author Michael D. Young

Very much like the main
character, Rich, I got picked on a lot when I was in Junior High. I was
studious, had thick glasses and liked thick fantasy novels. Unlike Rich, I’m
not good with putting together with my hands, especially the little models he
works on. I’d probably have wasted a bunch of money on those things, because
I’d have been breaking them all the time.

If you were a chess piece, which one would you be, and which
chess piece do you most like to kill whenever you're playing?

I’ve always liked the
straight-forwardness of the Rook, and its ability to “castle”. I think though
I’m more like a “bishop”, kind of the spiritual/intellectual kind of guy. And I
just played a bishop last summer in Les Miserables, so I’m definitely going to
have to go with bishop. I like to take out knights when I’m playing, because
they can be difficult to watch for at times, because of their erratic movements
and ability to jump over other pieces.

When you were writing this book was there a moment when you
finished some part and yelled "Checkmate!" If not, how did you feel
when you finished the first draft?

Oh, I should have done
that! Maybe when I’m done with the next book in the series. In many ways, I
felt like finally finishing something I’d been mulling over in my mind since I
was the age of my protagonist, so, yes, it felt pretty great. To quote a famous
fictional knight, I had “reached the unreachable stars”.

Optional question: No big spoilers, but what was your
favorite scene to write in Paladin's Pawn?

There’s a scene where Rich
is introducing his guide from the Middle Ages to the wonders of chocolate milk.
Medieval mind blown.

When nerdy Rich Witz
unwittingly becomes a Paladin, a white knight, in training, he is thrust into a
world where flunking a test can change the course of history and a mysterious
bully is playing for keeps with his life.

Rich’s grandmother leaves him with one
thing before disappearing for good: a white chess pawn with his initials
engraved on it. The pawn marks him as the next in an ancient line of white
knights. He must prove himself in a life or death contest against his Nemesis,
a dark knight in training, all while dealing with math homework and English
projects.With the ghost of an
ancestor for his guide, he has seven days to complete four tasks of valor
before his Nemesis does, or join his guide in the realm of the dead.

As Rich rushes to complete the tasks, he
realizes the chilling truth: his Nemesis is masquerading as someone at school
and will stop at nothing to make him fail. As the tasks grow ever harder, the
other knights reveal to him that his failure will break a centuries-old chain
and bring the Paladin order to ruin. If he fails, the dark knights win the
right to control the fate of the world, a world without hope or the possibility
of a new dawn.So this is one exam
Rich has to ace, with no curve and no extra credit.

Author Bio:

Michael is a graduate
of Brigham Young University and Western Governor’s University with degrees in
German Teaching, Music, and Instructional Design. He puts his German to good
use teaching online German courses for High School students. Though he grew up
traveling the world with his military father, he now lives in Utah with his
wife, Jen, and his two sons. Michael enjoys acting in community theater,
playing and writing music and spending time with his family. He played for
several years with the handbell choir Bells on Temple Square and is now a
member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

He is the author of the novels The
Canticle Kingdom Series, The Last Archangel Series, and the Chess Quest
Series.His also authors several
web serials through BigWorldNetwork.com. He publishes anthologies for charity
in his Advent Anthologies series. He has also had work featured in various
online and print magazines such as Bards and Sages Quarterly, Mindflights,
Meridian, The New Era, Allegory, and Ensign.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Evil ghost ballerinas surround Giselle’s two suitors and
force the men to dance until they die. The scenes with the ghosts in Act II is
a big reason this ballet is still being performed 173 years after its premier.
The ghosts of the young maidens who were betrayed in love and died before their
wedding day take the stage wearing bridal veils. The ghosts, called Wilis in
the German folklore, haunted the Capitol Theater with eerie beauty that took my
breath away.

Photo by Kelli Bramble

Did you know that the phrase “it gives
me the willies” was made popular because of Giselle?
The “Willies” (Wilis) are the spirits of young women who have died from love
gone wrong, haunting forests for all eternity.

The queen of the Wilis, played by the prima ballerina, Christiana
Bennett on opening night, was fierce and evil as she exacted revenge. She
perfectly portrayed her character, the first woman ever who was jilted and
betrayed, and has spent thousands of years taking revenge. Christiana Bennett danced
masterfully and brought serious gravitas to the stage.

All the ground fog, the ominous set dressing, and the
sinister music worked so perfectly with the exceptional dancing and
choreography. The dancers floated across the stage with the mist swirling
around them and I loved it.

Act II, The Forest, begins when Giselle’s suitor from her
village, Hilarion played by Rex Tilton, arrives at her grave. Hilarion is
quickly surrounded by the Wilis and they make him dance until he dies. Rex Tilton
had what I believe is his best performance ever. I wished the choreography
would have showed his actual death, but this ballet dates from 1841 when it debuted in Paris to rave reviews. Giselle is still incredibly relevant and has been adapted for a modern
audience, though it feels like a classic from another age.

Act I, Harvest Time (in a village in the German Rhineland)
starts out a bit slow, with Giselle’s suitor in her village, Hilarion vying for
her heart. Giselle, played beautifully by Arolyn Williams, has fallen in love
with a handsome stranger, Prince Albrecht played by principal artist
Christopher Ruud, who has been visiting Giselle for the past two weeks in
disguise as a commoner.

She has fallen deeply in love with him all the while not
knowing he is a Prince. Arolyn Williams did such an amazing job portraying the
character. Her dancing, especially her solo work blew me away. In one sequence
in Act I she stands on her toes—on one foot!—and crosses the entire stage. I’ve
never seen anything like it.

You’ll have to watch the ballet to learn how Giselle dies at
the end of Act I, but it’s shocking and dramatic. The build-up to the climactic
end of Act I is quite long, and I did find the waltz sections when the villagers
were celebrating the harvest somewhat tedious, but the dancing during those
scenes was excellent. Over fifty dancers were part of this production, and
Ballet West has to give everyone in the company some time on stage to showcase
their skills, which they did wonderfully. All of the scenes with the villagers
in Act I were beautiful, but my favorite parts involved Beckanne Sisk and
Sayaka Ohtaki, who danced solos and showed their brilliance.

The love triangle aspect with spurned and angry Hilarion
fighting with Prince Albrecht in Act I over Giselle was extremely interesting,
but it was all about the second act for me. Seeing the Wilis, especially their
queen and her two hench-women (Emily Adams and Alison DeBona on opening night)
was the highlight.

The final scenes with the ghost of Giselle and Prince
Albrecht were awesome. I used my opera glasses to see Arolyn’s expression at
the very end when she disappeared inside her grave. She perfectly captured the
tragedy and redemption of Giselle, a classic ballet, now made into a modern
masterpiece by Ballet West.

My wife and I are strongly considering going again to see
rising star, Beckanne Sisk take on the lead role of Giselle with Chirstopher
Ruud again playing Albrecht. We both love Christopher’s dancing, and he’s a
master of his craft. We want to see him and Beckanne dance together.

Giselle runs from November 7-16, 2014 at Capitol Theater. To read a summary of the entire ballet or learn more, please visit Ballet West’s website.

The Iron Dragon Series

About Me

Paul Genesse is the author of The Golden Cord, which is the bestselling fantasy novel Five Star Books has ever had. He is also the author of The Dragon Hunters, and The Secret Empire in his Iron Dragon Series. He loves writing short fiction and has sold over a dozen, which appear in various DAW anthologies, and elsewhere. He is also the editor of the five volumes in the demon-themed Crimson Pact shared multiverse anthology series. He lives with his very supportive wife, Tammy, and a large collection of fantasy art in his basement art gallery.
He worked full time as a cardiac nurse for 17 years, and as of October 2014 works as a clinical analyst for a large healthcare company. He has also worked as a copy editor, computer game consultant, and naturally he enjoys speaking at conventions, and doing school visits. He is a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, and loves The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies. He wants to become the nerd Jimmy Fallon and enjoys interviewing movie and TV stars at large media conventions like Salt Lake Comic Con. Please friend him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @Paul_Genesse, explore paulgenesse.com and send him pictures of dragons.